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Geoff Zahn, PhD
Translational microbial ecology | Microbiomes and symbiosis
Professional Appointments
Associate Professor
Utah Valley University
Orem, UT
Current - 2023
Assistant Professor
Utah Valley University
Orem, UT
2023 - 2017
Private Consulting
Forensic Bioinformatics / Data Science + App development
Various
Current - 2020
Director of Environmental Biology
GeoDataCrawler Research Institute
Athens, GA
2021 - 2018
Postdoctoral Associate
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Honolulu, HI
2017 - 2015
Education
University of Arkansas
Ph.D. in Biology
Fayetteville, AR
2015
Missouri State University
B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
Springfield, MO
2010
Selected Funding and Awards
Total funding: $1,193,494
PI: Faculty-Mentored Experiences for Improving Undergraduate Biology Student Outcomes
$972,287
NSF (DUE – 1833880)
2023 - 2018
College of Science Dean’s Award of Excellence for Scholarship
$5,500
UVU
2020, 2022
Presidential Fellowship for Faculty Scholarship
$8,000
UVU
2019
PI: SEED: Engaging undergraduates in advanced research
$30,000
UVU
2018 - 2017
PI: New methods to survey fungal endophytes in endangered cacti
$2,550
Capitol Reef National Park
2018
Co-PI: Assessing Undergraduate Research Teams at an Open Enrollment Institution
$29,327
UVU
2018
Translational Mycology Postdoctoral Award
Plant conservation from a microbial perspective
Mycological Society of America
2016
Co-PI: Restoration of endangered plants by manipulating foliar fungal symbionts
$40,500
Oahu Army Natural Resources Program
2015
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Travel Award
$750
Washington, D.C.
2014
PI: The Importance of microbial interactions to soil carbon cycling on a warming planet
$22,570
NSF (OISE-1308856) / JSPS (SP01363)
2013
Student Mentee Funding Awards
138 undergrad mentees funded from a variety of internal and external programs
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Current - 2017
Teaching and Mentoring
Designed a new Bioinformatics Degree Program
Experienced with univ. curriculum processes and accreditation
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R for Biologists
Intro to R language and data science, including dataviz & modeling (designed and taught)
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Microbiome Boot Camp
Advanced R, numerical ecology, community ecology, scientific writing (designed and taught)
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Bioinformatics Capstone
Project-based (designed and taught)
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Developed online lab for non-major’s biology
University of Arkansas - asynchronous pedagogy practices
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Publications
Inclusion of database outgroups reduces false positives in fungal metabarcoding taxonomic assignments.
Rawson C, & Zahn G. Mycologia 10.1080/00275514.2023.2206931
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2023
Long-term soil fungal community recovery after fire is impacted by climate change.
McGee S, Tidwell A, Riggs E, Veltkamp H, & Zahn G. Western North American Naturalist
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2022
Marker Genes (16S and ITS) Protocol for Plant Microbiome Analyses.
Zahn G. BIO-PROTOCOL 10.21769/BioProtoc.4395
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2022
Global patterns in endemicity and vulnerability of soil fungi.
Tedersoo L, Mikryukov V, Zizka A, Bahram M, Hagh-Doust N, Anslan S, Prylutskyi O, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Maestre FT, … Abarenkov K. Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.16398
N/A
2022
The Global Soil Mycobiome consortium dataset for boosting fungal diversity research.
Tedersoo L, Mikryukov V, Anslan S, Bahram M, Khalid AN, Corrales A, Agan A, Vasco-Palacios A-M, Saitta A, … Abarenkov K. Fungal Diversity 10.1007/s13225-021-00493-7
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2021
Examination of host-taxon, environment, and distance effects on leaf fungal endophytes in the dominant woody genus, Metrosideros, on O’ahu.
Sur GL, Zahn G, & Stacy EA. Fungal Ecology 10.1016/j.funeco.2021.101093
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2021
Biogeographic structure of fungal communities in seagrass Halophilia ovalis across the Malay Peninsula.
Quek ZBR, Zahn G, Lee NLY, Ooi JLS, Lee JN, Huang D, & Wainwright BJ. Environmental Microbiology Reports 10.1111/1758-2229.13003
N/A
2021
Restoration of the mycobiome of the endangered Hawaiian mint Phyllostegia kaalaensis increases its resistance to a common powdery mildew.
Egan CP, Koko JH, Muir CD, Zahn G, Swift SOI, Amend AS, & Hynson NA. Fungal Ecology 10.1016/j.funeco.2021.101070
N/A
2021
Essential oil, insect, and microbe relationships in Juniperus osteosperma (Cupressaceae) trees killed by wildfire.
Wilson T, Poulson A, Packer C, Carlson R, Davis R, Dey M, Owen N, Smalley S, Dodge R, … Stevens M. Phytologia
N/A
2021
Host age is not a consistent predictor of microbial diversity in the coral Porites lutea.
Wainwright BJ, Zahn GL, Afiq-Rosli L, Tanzil JTI, & Huang D. Scientific Reports 10.1038/s41598-020-71117-4
N/A
2020
Fungal communities living within leaves of native Hawaiian dicots are structured by landscape-scale variables as well as by host plants.
Darcy JL, Swift SOI, Cobian GM, Zahn GL, Perry BA, & Amend AS. Molecular Ecology 10.1111/mec.15544
N/A
2020
Fungal aerobiota are not affected by time nor environment over a 13-y time series at the Mauna Loa Observatory.
Zahn G, Tipton L, Datlof E, Kivlin SN, Sheridan P, Amend AS, & Hynson NA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.1907414116
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2019
Foliar fungi alter reproductive timing and allocation in Arabidopsis under normal and water-stressed conditions.
Zahn G, & Amend AS. Fungal Ecology 10.1016/j.funeco.2019.04.002
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2019
Characterization of fungal biodiversity and communities associated with the reef macroalga Sargassum ilicifolium reveals fungal community differentiation according to geographic locality and algal structure.
Wainwright BJ, Bauman AG, Zahn GL, Todd PA, & Huang D. Marine Biodiversity 10.1007/s12526-019-00992-6
N/A
2019
Characterisation of coral-associated bacterial communities in an urbanised marine environment shows strong divergence over small geographic scales.
Wainwright BJ, Afiq-Rosli L, Zahn GL, & Huang D. Coral Reefs 10.1007/s00338-019-01837-1
N/A
2019
Seagrass-associated fungal communities show distance decay of similarity that has implications for seagrass management and restoration.
Wainwright BJ, Zahn GL, Zushi J, Lee NLY, Ooi JLS, Lee JN, & Huang D. Ecology and Evolution 10.1002/ece3.5631
N/A
2019
Seagrass-associated fungal communities follow Wallace’s line, but host genotype does not structure fungal community.
Wainwright BJ, Zahn GL, Arlyza IS, & Amend AS. Journal of Biogeography 10.1111/jbi.13168
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2018
Foliar microbiome transplants confer disease resistance in a critically-endangered plant.
Zahn G, & Amend AS. PeerJ 10.7717/peerj.4020
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2017
Uncovering unseen fungal diversity from plant DNA banks.
Datlof EM, Amend AS, Earl K, Hayward J, Morden CW, Wade R, Zahn G, & Hynson NA. PeerJ 10.7717/peerj.3730
N/A
2017
Fungi associated with mesophotic macroalgae from the ’Au’au Channel, west Maui are differentiated by host and overlap terrestrial communities.
Wainwright BJ, Zahn GL, Spalding HL, Sherwood AR, Smith CM, & Amend AS. PeerJ 10.7717/peerj.3532
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2017
The effects of amoebal bacterivory on carbon and nitrogen dynamics depend on temperature and soil structure interactions.
Zahn G, Wagai R, & Yonemura S. Soil Biology and Biochemistry
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2016
Ecological distribution of protosteloid amoebae in New Zealand.
Zahn G, Stephenson SL, & Spiegel FW. PeerJ
N/A
2014
First records of Protosteloid Amoebae (Eumycetozoa) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
De Haan M, Cocquyt C, Tice A, Zahn G, & Spiegel FW. Plant Ecology and Evolution
N/A
2014
Pil1, an eisosome organizer, plays an important role in the recruitment of synaptojanins and amphiphysins to facilitate receptor-mediated endocytosis in yeast.
Murphy ER, Boxberger J, Colvin R, Lee SJ, Zahn G, Loor F, & Kim K. European Journal of Cell Biology
N/A
2011
Selected Invited Presentations
Translating mentored undergraduate research into student retention and success
National Science Foundation S-STEM Symposium
Washington, D.C.
2023
Less content, more context: Research as pedagogy in undergraduate mycology courses
Mycological Society of America
FL, USA
2022
Who’s there and who cares: the how and why of fungal community structure
Brigham Young University
UT, USA
2021
The causes and consequences of fungal community structure
University of Arkansas/Missouri State University
AR/MO, USA
2018
Picky Eaters: Prey choice by soil protists is altered by temperature and soil structure
Cornell University,
NY, USA
2016
Effects of belowground trophic complexity on carbon cycling under changing climatic and edaphic conditions
Joint Genome Institute
CA, USA
2015
The functional and distributional ecology of mycetozoans under changing edaphic and climatic dynamics
Climate Impact Research Center
Abisko, Sweden
2015
Picky eaters: climate alters amoeba prey choice and the microbial loop
NIAES
Tsukuba, Japan
2014
The Tropical Mycetozoans
Organization for Tropical Studies
Las Cruces, Costa Rica
2012
Selected Contributed Presentations
Aquatic Plant-Associated Fungi Along an Urbanization Gradient
Mycological Society of America
AZ, USA
2023
Metagenomic Tools for Mycobiome Analyses in Model vs. Non-Model Systems
Mycological Society of America
AZ, USA
2023
Improving the Accuracy of Meta-Amplicon Taxonomic Assignments Through the Inclusion of Outgroups in Fungal Databases
Mycological Society of America
AZ, USA
2023
Inspecting the microbiome and metabolomic compartments of Mediterranean sponge holobionts through an integrated ’omics approach
International Sponge Symposium
Leiden, Netherlands
2022
Fungal endophytes and pathogens in endangered hawaiian endemics: Plant conservation from a microbial perspective
Mycological Society of America,
CA, USA
2016
The interactive effects of protozoan predation pressure and environmental factors on carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils under warming conditions
International Society for Microbial Ecology
Seoul, South Korea
2014
Using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to uncover mechanisms of soil communities’ effects on carbon cycling under warming conditions
DOE Joint Genome Institute
CA, USA
2014
The Role of Soil Amoebae in Nutrient Cycling on a Warming Planet
Graduate University for Advanced Studies
Sokendai, Japan
2013
The Protosteloid Amoebae of New Zealand
Mycological Society of America
AK, USA
2011
Code Contributions
Tool for creating QIIME-compatible taxonomic databases from any subset of NCBI data.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3688556
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Synergistic activities
Mentorship
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- Graduate committee member (4 MS, 3 PhD)
- Undergrad research mentor (38 students)
- Lab alumni
Societies & Service
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- Editor of Mycologia
- Education Committee - Mycological Society of America
- IUCN Species Survival Group - Slime Moulds Specialist
- Member: ISME, MSA, Intnl. Soc. for Fungal Conserv., Japan SPS Alumni Assoc.
- NSF GK-12 Teaching Fellow (2011-2012)
- Faculty senator - UVU (2017-2020)
- Program and course development (Univ. of Arkansas, Utah Valley Univ.)
- Faculty search committees (Chair 1x, Member 6x)
- Council for Undergraduate Research (member)
Collaborations (current and past)
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- National Univ. of Singapore
- Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
- Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
- Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
- Oxford Univ.
- Univ. of Arkansas
- Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Okanagan College
- University of Colorado, Anschutz
- Stazione Anton Dorhn
- Washington State Univ.
- SUNY Syracuse
- Univ. of Colorado, Denver
- Pacific NW National Lab
- SoftCell, Inc.
- Young Living, Inc.
Outreach
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Peer review
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- NSF panel reviewer & ad hoc reviewer
- NSF GRFP
- BARD US-Israel Agr. Dev. Fund
- Journals:
- Soil Biol. and Biochem. (Distinguished), PeerJ, Pedobiologia (Distinguished), Oikos, ISME Journal, Fungal Ecology (Distinguished), Molecular ecology, Ecology and Evolution, American Fern Journal, New, Phytologist, Phytobiomes